The Bee County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Center will hold its annual banquet on Thursday at the Beeville Country Club.

Guest speaker this year is Sen. Judith Zaffirini, along with featured speaker Dr. Beatriz Espinoza.

Tickets for the banquet are $50 apiece or $400 for a table of eight.

The banquet begins at 6 p.m. with a social hour.

Zaffirini, D-Laredo, represents the 21st Senatorial District. She is the second highest-ranking Texas state senator and also the highest-ranking woman and Hispanic senator and the highest-ranking senator for Bexar County and the border region.

Zaffirini has received more than 670 awards and honors for her legislative, public service and professional work, including more than 160 in communication. Her 2011 awards include being named to the “All Decades Teams” for the 2000s and the 1990s by Capitol Inside and a Hero of Hope by the Laredo Morning Times. She received the “People’s Friend: Lord’s Work Award” from the Texas Observer and the inaugural “Subiendo Leadership Award” from The University of Texas at Austin, which also named her a Distinguished Alumna in 2003.

Last year marked the fourth time that Texas Monthly named Zaffirini to its list of Texas’ “10 Best Legislators.” It also included her in 2005, 2001 and 1997; gave her the “Bull of the Brazos” award in 2009 and an “Honorable Mention” in 2003. Interestingly, she was named “Sister Judith,” an Honorary Nun, by the Sisters of Mercy and Mercy Ministries and “Mr. South Texas” by the Washington’s Birthday Celebration Association.

Featured speaker Espinoza is the first woman and the first Hispanic president at Coastal Bend College.

Espinoza comes to CBC from Yuba Community College District in Marysville, Calif., where she served as vice chancellor for educational planning and services. She is an experienced educator and college administrator with 25 years in higher education.

She holds a Ph.D. in rehabilitation psychology and educational psychology and a master’s in rehabilitation psychology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison; and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg.

Espinoza was hired in March to fill the position left vacant when Dr. Thomas B. Baynum left last year.